The lack of an update last week was largely due to once again getting clearance to use footage which is likely to be used in legal proceedings. Releasing this footage prior to the outcome will ruin any potential case against the offenders but needless to say all is in hand and we’re hopeful of a successful prosecution. For a full update of the day visit the Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs Facebook page.

Another issue which came to light were the claims that a Huntsman from the Tedworth Hunt was kicked unconscious by sabs wielding metal bars on chains. Heavily edited and totally biased footage was aired on BBC Points West, complete with a Countryside Alliance spokesperson spouting their usual vitriol. However if you look at the complete footage compiled by Berkshire Hunt Sabs with additional comments a completely different story is clear to see.

What’s also evident by the CA releasing the footage is that they expect no action from the police on the issue otherwise they wouldn’t have released the video. The fact it was filmed by a hunt supporter and then picked up by the Daily Mail who are known to support hunting and love nothing more than printing sensationalist clap trap based on hearsay just proves this is nothing more than pro-hunt propaganda designed to fill in the cracks of their crumbling argument ahead of a general election. The simple fact is sabs face violence every week from hunts and their support. You are allowed to defend yourself and it’s pretty clear to me after watching the video the violence was instigated by the hunt or their support and they then came off second best. The so called metal bars on chains were nothing more than home made, lightweight whips sabs use for rating the hounds, hardly the pinnacle of personal defence armament.

The comments from the CA spokesperson were quite frankly laughable. Once again he tries to paint the picture of sabs being terrorists, covering their faces and leaving the towns for the countryside for a bit of a ruck and knowing nothing of countryside ways and wildlife control.

Lets break these issues down.

Face coverings. I’ve covered this before but it’s an issue which keeps arising so I’ll go over it again. Hunts and hunt support try very hard to find out who you are. They will go after you at your home or place of work. They will do all they can to discredit you, intimidate you and make you unemployable. Maintaining secrecy regarding your identity isn’t being a coward it’s sound operational security. Hunt support, especially the terrier men or the hired thungs used to protect the hunts regularly cover their faces, this is of course so it makes them difficult to identify in case they find themselves under investigation but we hear no mention of that from the CA.

Another article in the Torygraph sorry I mean Telegraph once again claims sabs are all animal rights extremists, hard liners that are politically motivated thugs terrorising those involved in a lawful pursuit that need to be unmasked. Obviously the writer of the article, Clive Aslet is completely impartial in this but oh wait, he seems to be editor at large for Country Life, hardly a publication with nothing to gain and no doubt spurred on to write the piece by the CA as they’re obviously cosey bedfellows in this. The double standards and hypocrisy in the piece is rife to say the least. A bunch of pissed up thugs from the Royal Agricultural College trying to overturn a sab vehicle and smash their way in is nothing more than, and I quote “rosy-cheeked, well-spoken students in tweed caps behaving in a yahooish manner”. And lets not forget, despite their claims to the contrary, all were breaking the law by hunting illegally in the first place.

We’re all townies. Most sabs I know come from all walks of life, come from hugely varying backgrounds and live in both rural and urban locations. CA claims to the contrary are nothing more than ignorant bluff and bluster.

Wildlife control. Oops, the hunt in question were supposed to be drag hunting (aren’t they all) so then why is wildlife control mentioned? If you’re following a trail nothing will be hunted and killed. Seems like an admittance of illegal hunting to me and wildlife control is just a phrase designed to soften the image of killing. I also wonder if the hunt in question had any terrier men with them as they nearly always do? Those pesky trail layers, it’s amazing how they manage to go under ground in holes and badger setts. If you’re following a trail then terrier men are completely unnecessary.

Countryside ways. Once upon a time it was OK to flog your slaves, bait bears and burn witches if your crops failed. Things have thankfully moved on. They’re so called countryside ways are nothing more than an excuse for bloodthirsty sociopaths to get their jollies by watching a sentient mammal tormented and then killed in a most barbaric manner. I’ve spent my entire life in the countryside, living with and working for our native wildlife. I’d be hugely surprised if any of the hunt staff or support knew anything beyond the basics of the environment around them and the ecosystems they support.

Obviously the CA have money to burn in an attempt to win over the general population to their cause however with over 80% still in favour of a ban on hunting with hounds many of their arguments will fall on deaf ears. You only have to view the disturbing footage from last week filmed by Dorset Hunt Sabs to know that the hunts are continually breaking the law and no amount of PR and propaganda will cover up this fact. This time the hunt in question was the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale, the same hunt who almost killed a sab some months ago. Full press release from the HSA can be found here.

UPDATE: It would appear, as expected that the Tedworth footage was supplied directly by Jill Grieve, who just happens to be director of Communications for the Countryside Alliance.